international affairs, history, politics

More than one way to skin a very crooked cat

Here’s a little tip from the Republican Party for all you little people out there: make your own world. Don’t rely on others to get the job done for you. Only you can control your destiny. It’s on your shoulders. That’s the American way.

In an extraordinary move, Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub publicly stated on Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump did not consult with his office to formulate his plan to hand his billion-dollar real estate and licensing company off to his two adult sons.

Shaub said in an online livestream conducted by the Brookings Institution that Trump’s plan “doesn’t meet the standard that the best of nominees are meeting and that every president of the past four decades has met.”

“OGE’s primary recommendation is that he divest his conflicting assets,” he said. “Nothing short of divestiture will resolve these conflicts.” He added, “I don’t think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the president of the United States of America.”

The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday issued a stern letter, including a veiled threat of an investigation, to the federal government’s top ethics monitor, who this week had questioned President-elect Donald J. Trump’s commitment to confront his potential conflicts of interest.

In an unusual action against the independent Office of Government Ethics, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah accused the office’s director, Walter M. Shaub Jr., of “blurring the line between public relations and official ethics guidance.”

He cited a bizarre series of Twitter posts that the office made in late November congratulating Mr. Trump for divesting from his business — even though Mr. Trump had made no such commitment. Mr. Chaffetz also said that the office had failed to adequately investigate Hillary Clinton, based on allegations that she had not properly disclosed fees paid for speeches she gave after leaving her post as secretary of state.

The OGE’s failure to adequately investigate the woman who no longer does and probably never again will hold any position in the federal government is particularly egregious and I applaud Congressman Tim Curry’s Character from Home Alone 2 if You Hit Him Square in the Face With a Cast Iron Pan for bringing it up. This aggression will not stand, man.

Hi, how’s it going? Thanks for reading; attwiw wouldn’t exist without you! If you enjoyed this or any other posts here, please share widely and help build our audience. You can like this site on Facebook or follow me on Twitter as well. Most critically, if you’re a regular reader I hope you’ll read this and consider helping this place to stay alive.